76 Grundtvig — On the Birds of Shiocton , Wisconsin. 
1 can conclude very little from my observations. The asser¬ 
tion that the males always come first does not however hold 
good; but quite certainly most warblers appear to have two 
flights, with several days interval. In the first, as a rule, most 
males are seen, in the last most females and young birds. 
Observations on the birds breeding at a given locality have 
to my mind greater value than observations on the passage of mi¬ 
gratory birds. I think it must be admitted that the first seen of 
these birds are as a rule those which nest on the spot. This is nat¬ 
urally in most cases difficult, not to say impossible, to prove. I do 
not rest my belief on the now generally accepted theory that the 
most northern breeding birds go farthest south in the winter; 1 I 
support myself only on my own experiences, and for house-birds' 
appearance these are, I think, sufficient. 
The first Troglodytes aedon that I saw in 1883 were a pair 
which on the seventh of May, early in the morning, sang near 
the house and immediately took possession of the bird-houses. 
Both years I saw Sayornis phoebe first at the house. Flocks were 
not seen until after the native birds had eggs . Of Chcetura pelagica 
I saw in 1883 the first pair near the house on the morning of 
May 7. In the course of the day they visited the old nest 
on the chimney. Of Merula migratoria I can say this, that 
flocks were seen when nests in the place were nearly finished. 
That the first, which were seen Feb. 26, 1882 and March 22, 1883, 
were those that built on the spot, I cannot of course assert. But 
it seems to me noteworthy that both times they were seen in 
the same poplars where one of these birds afterward had a nest. 
Dendroica pensylvanica was seen in 1882 for the first time at a 
spot were both years there was a nest. That however was perhaps 
quite accidental. The first Vireo gilvus in 1883 was seen not in a 
flock but singly at its breeding place. Habia ludoviciana Passerina 
cyanea and many others were seen only at the breeding-places. 2 
Tn the autumn the northern birds’ migration reached Shiocton 
probably after—in some cases long after—the native birds of the same 
species had departed. This was true at any rate of many, such as 
Merula migratoria , S turned a magna, Chordeiles virginianus , Anas 
boschas and Anas discors. 
2 South of the railway a flock of Habia ludoviciana was seen May 22, 
1883. On May 16 the single ones were seen at the breeding places. 
